Daya was rudely woken up by the loud crying of a child. He glanced at the clock.
Midnight.
So he hadn't gotten more than an hour of sleep.
Never mind the crying. Just sleep.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the sound.
Ugh.
Tossing, turning, he twisted the pillow to cover both his ears.
…
…
…
Ughhhh.
Daya let out a muffled growl as he sat up on his bed.
No way in hell could he sleep with all this crying in the background. He pulled his shirt over his boxers and buttoned them wrongly as he walked to the front door, still wobbly from lack of sleep.
He moved towards his neighbouring flat. A shame he hadn't introduced himself to his new neighbours earlier.
His hands almost reached the doorbell when he pulled it back. That might further irritate the baby. And he most certainly wouldn't want that.
So he knocked on the door.
"Dekhiye mein aapka padosi hu...kya mein kuch madat kar sakta hu?"
No sooner had he said these words than the door was answered.
"Sh-Shreya tum?"
All his drowsiness immediately left him. He looked at her carefully. Those same, large innocent eyes, that shy smile which could light up an entire room by its mere presence, her hair still short… it was all too familiar.
All too familiar.
Before a wave of nostalgia could drown him, Shreya spoke.
"Sir hum abhi yaha shift hue hai...Mujhe nahi pata tha ki aap...aapne bhi apna ghar shift kiya hai."
"Wo..haan mein…. Akanksha ro kyu rahi hai?"
"Sir usse thoda sa bukhar hai aur Siddhart out of India hain toh isse chhodke medical store bhi nahi jaa paayi"
"Toh dawai...mein le aata hu agar -"
"Sir itni raat ko aap pareshaan -"
"Arrey Shreya isme kya pareshaani. Tum dawai ka naam batao, mein bas abhi lekar aata hu."
Shreya nodded, telling him what was required. She felt a strange sense of comfort on hearing these words from his mouth. As he was leaving, she called him.
"Sir wait -"
"Yeah?"
"Your buttons are all mixed up."
She stepped closer to him, doing his buttons correctly, one after the other. While her fingers worked on his shirt, Daya held his breath, his heartbeat rising at their proximity. The sense of longing that he thought he had long forgotten, arose in him once again.
"Ho Gaya."
Daya smiled at her sheepishly, as she stepped away from him sooner than he would have liked.
…
…
...
When he returned with the medicines, he found Shreya cradling Akanksha. For a moment, he stood in silence, just to look at her.
Motherhood adorned her in a way clothes never could.
"Ye lo Shreya," he said softly so as to not alarm the child.
As she took the medicines from him, her fingers brushed against his.
"Arrey tumhe bhi bukhar hai!"
"Nahi wo zara si -"
"Tum jaakar araam karo… Akanksha ko mein dekh lunga."
"Magar - "
"Magar wagar kuch nahi… mein keh raha hu na."
Shreya nodded, letting him carry Akanksha. As he took her into his arms, he felt strangely competent to take care of her, as though she were his own child.
Babies otherwise petrified him… they were so delicate, so difficult, so demanding...but Akanksha...she was different. He didn't know if it was her or her mother that made him feel differently. To be true, he didn't dwell too much on that question, lest he should find the answer disagreeable.
Somewhere between his thoughts and her ebbing sobs, she drifted into sleep. He then carried her into the room Shreya had gone. Quietly, he lay her beside Shreya, keeping pillows at the edge of the bed, should she roll over.
He then shifted his attention to Shreya. He adjusted her blanket so that it now fully covered her. As he tucked it around her shoulders, she caught his wrist.
"I'm sorry sir," she whispered, "Humari wajah se aapki neend kharab ho gayi."
"You don't need to apologize to me Shreya...never…"
Saying this, he left her house, in the deceptive comfort of the turmoil of emotions that aroused in him.
A/N: Affairs outside marriage are immoral. But what happens when you are caught in one before you know whats happening?
Lemme know your views in the reviews.